Divorce rate in Kuwait up by 4.4% as study blames extra benefits for divorcees

A study on the increase of divorce rates in Kuwait has concluded that a major cause was the extra benefits received by divorcees. Under Kuwaiti civil legislation, Kuwaiti divorcees are able to claim a car, a housemaid and a chauffeur, as well as alimony and housing payments from their former husbands.

The study, by the parliamentary general secretariat’s research department, called for the introduction of more premarital counseling programmes for engaged couples to increase awareness about long commitments, responsibilities and duties in marriage.

Annual divorce rate among Kuwaitis has increased from 31 percent throughout the 1980s and 1990s to 35.4 percent in the past decade, a rise of 4.4 per cent, the study indicated. Although an average of 30 Kuwaiti men and women get married every day, the study, based on Ministry of Justice records, found that 10 Kuwaitis file for divorce daily. The study said that 65 per cent of divorces occur within the first five years of marriage.